tkring
Guest
Larry, one more question ... how do your distance shots look? Are they clear? This is one reason why I want to change cameras. My current camera (OLY Stylus 400) takes good close ups but distance shots are not clear.
sp-350
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The zoom is pretty good, to a point. With only 3x Optical and 5x digital, you're not getting a telephoto. There are add on lenses available. Oly has a 1.7 for the bare camera. So far, my zoom shots have been fine. With 8mp, you can make poster size pictures and the detail is pretty good. Underwater, there are very few days in California that you can take a picture beyond about 10feet. So far my UW wide shots have been plagued by backscatter. I hope to cure this when my strobe arrives. I understand adding an Inon or Epoque wide angle wet lens or a dome lens helps get the big picture from less distance. In tropical water, I'm sure you'll do pretty well regardless. I've seen natural light pictures using the "magic filter" that have amazing detail from pretty fair distance if you're shooting above 15 meters. As far as distance, my only real dissappointment with this camera is lens distortion with the small lens. If you're shooting with buildings at the edge of your shot, you'll get some lean. There are some post-editing programs with built-in lens correction factors, but I think they're mostly for the DSLR crowd. I like being able to carry a small 1+ lb. camera that fits in one hand when I'm underwater. I've dived with people who have the $5000.00 dual strobe SLR set-ups, and they're more photog than diver. I know one who has run out of air and been rescued by at least 4 people so far by being too wrapped up in camera eqpt. to check the gauges.
About the SP-350, I asked earlier but had only one reply.
When shooting out of water, has anyone experienced the optical view finder to be somewhat blurry? I have checked it out in camera stores and found 2 cameras hard to see through the optical view finder. SP-350 has no eyepiece correction, but other cameras on display without correction seemed to be decent. Could it be they have been banged around by shoppers?
When shooting out of water, has anyone experienced the optical view finder to be somewhat blurry? I have checked it out in camera stores and found 2 cameras hard to see through the optical view finder. SP-350 has no eyepiece correction, but other cameras on display without correction seemed to be decent. Could it be they have been banged around by shoppers?
Tassie_Rohan
Contributor
Just got back from Tasmania and playing around with the SP350 with a PT30 housing. I
have to say I love this camera.
Top side the size and controls are just right - a small camera but without cramped controls. The menus and controls are logically laid out. The 20 preset scenes work very well with excellent color saturation. Excellent large LCD. Only downside is I found myself wishing for a wider angle and a smaller min apature for landscapes (f8).
Housing works well. Can access all controls and has a nice feel underwater.
I've never used a UW camera before and got in only one dive with the camera - but here are my first shots. Please note they have been greatly reduced in size and JPG'ed: the resolution on the originals are crisp:
BTW the eyepiece seems fine on my camera.
Happy to answer any questions.
Cheers,
Rohan.
have to say I love this camera.
Top side the size and controls are just right - a small camera but without cramped controls. The menus and controls are logically laid out. The 20 preset scenes work very well with excellent color saturation. Excellent large LCD. Only downside is I found myself wishing for a wider angle and a smaller min apature for landscapes (f8).
Housing works well. Can access all controls and has a nice feel underwater.
I've never used a UW camera before and got in only one dive with the camera - but here are my first shots. Please note they have been greatly reduced in size and JPG'ed: the resolution on the originals are crisp:
BTW the eyepiece seems fine on my camera.
Happy to answer any questions.
Cheers,
Rohan.
Very nice shots. Ditto on your experiences with the camera. I haven't shot with anything else, but I think somehow this series has gotten some undeserved bad press. My experiences so far have been equally positive. Light, easy to use, takes great pictures for the casual UW photographer. I'll have to allow the pros their opinions, but it's harder to take bad pictures than good with this camera. I'd love to see what someone who knows what they're doing could come up with, especially with a decent strobe and proper settings. BTW, very jealous of your dive site. Love to see that sort of water clarity on my next dive.
Tassie_Rohan
Contributor
Thanks for that - I've taken far more photos with this camera in the last few months then I have with my previous two cameras combined (a bulky DSLR that gets left at home due to its size and weight and a compact digital that had no real features apart from being very small).The SP's a nice mix of size and features and feels good in the hand. I normally ignore preset modes but I'm impressed by the ones on the SP and now find myself using them all the time. If it had a wider angle and a larger zoom range it would be perfect.
My biggest fears with the camera is that the model will be discontinued sooner rather than later and that later SP models won't fit the PT30 housing. But only time will tell...
Cheers,
Rohan.
My biggest fears with the camera is that the model will be discontinued sooner rather than later and that later SP models won't fit the PT30 housing. But only time will tell...
Cheers,
Rohan.
You can pretty much bet the farm that this model will be discontinued quickly and that the newer version won't fit in the same housing (at least not without some modifications!) That's just the nature of the beast.
I still use my Oly 5050s and adore them...they've been discontinued for quite a while now.
Can someone post a shot of this camera in hand or against say cd case or something...I have a hard time getting my head around real size. I'd appreciate in and out of housing, if possible
LarryC - your diver with too much money and not enough brains should have his rig sunk. If you can't dive, you shouldn't be shooting.
I still use my Oly 5050s and adore them...they've been discontinued for quite a while now.
Can someone post a shot of this camera in hand or against say cd case or something...I have a hard time getting my head around real size. I'd appreciate in and out of housing, if possible
LarryC - your diver with too much money and not enough brains should have his rig sunk. If you can't dive, you shouldn't be shooting.
I'll be happy to post a picture for you, but I'll have to borrow back my Sony from my son first. Should be able to do it by tomorrow, check back.
Thanks, Larry! really appreciate it
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